1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, which has a power-saving mode in which power consumption is saved, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that is capable of reducing the period of time required for returning from the power-saving mode to start printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers have been proposed which have a power-saving mode in which power consumption is saved. The image forming apparatuses enter the power-saving mode when a user selects the power-saving mode or when a timer indicates that a predetermined period of time has elapsed. The power-saving mode is intended to save power consumption by providing power-saving control for loads of the image forming apparatuses; e.g. a fixing device is set to a lower temperature than normal.
However, in the power-saving mode, the conventional image forming apparatuses carry out the same process (according to a fixed procedure) when returning from the power-saving mode to a normal mode. This return process includes automatic adjustment, which is intended to obtain a proper print image and takes a relatively long period of time. Since the return process is carried out according to the fixed procedure as described above, the automatic adjustment is carried out even in the case where no problem arises if the automatic adjustment is not carried out when the image forming apparatus returns from the power-saving mode to the normal mode. This is inefficient because it takes a long time to return from the power-saving mode and start printing.